The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1887-10-08
Opening address OF 6aOV. o. D.
Machinery at IsaneFasas
Mafr.

The first element in successful farming Is
honest dealing with the land.
No crop Is raised and carried away hut
what takes from the ground some Of Its pro.
ductfve power. The true farmer restores
what is taken away and wastes nothing that
| has q feTtilizing value.
| Land needs rest as much Is animals. The
ground needs repose as much rs the ttller
needs his rest at nonntiGe, lor his sleep al
night, or his weekly holiday. Changes Of
seasons give rest 10 the soil. In some eli
mates the wheat fields sleep under blankets
! Of Enory the fruit trees relieve themselves OF
foliage and send down their surplus sap TO
their roots. All that grows gets rid Of super
| iuous exhaustion and after long repose
springs ont in due time with vigor. The
law OF alternate work and rest Is as exacttng
as the great physical law of action and reac-
tiou. Its requirements cannot be ignored OF
avoided or eYaded without penalty.
The land rebels against monopoly as much
as the filler does. There are favored places
where the soil will produce the sanie crops
for many years, where even the great-grana-
sons of the first enltivatOTs lind no decrease
In fertility We have large areas of such
lands in our own beautiful State, that prom
Use rewards to the planter for coming geneI-
AtiOns. We have many wide eXpanses OF a.
luyial ground, so rich that the soil might De
transported for long distances and proiitaDty
employed as a fertilizer on thin but still yalh-
able lands But these alluvial treasures, these
deposits of countless centuries, these con
tftbutions of the great valley, these tributes 10
the Gulf by the King Of Rivers, more precious
than the Lords Of Venice ever cast into the
welded Adiristic, these lands that promise to
feed and clothe thr0BgiRg millions for ages
10 come, are practically exceptions. Even
these may wear out by excessive culture OF
monotonous crops, but 1t Is not to these tiiaJ
I refer. Other lands In far greater area are
-. RnRfdEaE
q restoration Of what is taken away they need
rotation and alteration as well as frequent
periods of absolute repose. This require
ment neglected makes those barren and worn
out fields all over the South, all over the
North, all over the West. A pestilent greed
for rapid gains, the propensity to grow rich
in haste, the eager passion to gather IN ten
wears more than the thrift and industry OF
forty years can deserve, have denudeu and
Lepopulated an imperial territory Of millions
of acres, destroyed beyond the reach Of res
toratiOn.
1t does mot pay TO cheat nature. 1t does
not pay to cheat the soil 1t does not pay to
cheat the laborer. The farmer who cheats
the ground is bis own worse dupe. He robS
Mother Earth of the power to be kind to her
children. including himself.
It should be
THEAIN AND THE PRIDE OF THE GOOD FARMER
to leave his lands in a better condition than
when he received them, whether by inherit
ance or purchase. He should give back to
the farm more and more each year the fruits
Of his labor, his experience, his capital and
his skill. Increased facilities OF traDsPOrta-
ton, enhanced values Of products and the
demands OF a growing population may great
ly increase the market value Of his farm, and
he may therefore seem to be growing rich :
yet his farm may have grown poorer IN pro
dUetive capacity, degeRerated 10 vttilizing
properties neglected In its bitches, fences,
roads and buildings, diminished In shade
timber, woodland pasture and orchards, and
in many respects less beautiful and less In
tTiDsieaIly valuable. He who thus steadily
works down the value Of his acres, content
to add field TO field and farm TO farm, without
improving, content with increase In prices
careless Of actual deterioration, content TO
leave to a new generation landed property
worse than he found it, may be counted
among the successful and die rich, but he
cannot be counted among benetactors or
among those who are proud to be recognized
as farmers In spirit and truth.
Nations have fallen victims to the dishOn-
est and vicious greed Of those who robbed
the soil and the tilleTs of the soil, as often as
from any other cause. a false system OF ag-
riCulbuTe has dried up the fountains Of sub
sisbence in many places, where millions once
dwelt In cOnJentment, where great empires
had their seats, and where corn and wine
aud oil were In all houses The lands over
worked 10 satisfy TapaciOus tax gatherers
and renOrseless rulers slowly lost their pro
duetive power and became barren and wild
and desert and desolate the advancing de-
strucGOn spreading out into the wastes and
wilderness that mar the face of Africa and
Asia. Nothing can remove these bl0tehes Of
baTTeBDess theTe-nOthing can avert the same
effects wherever false, selfish wicked sy6-
ten Of robbing the soil is long and widely
pursued,
Cutting away forests Is
ANOTHER FORM OF DISHONEST DEALING
with the wealth producing and health-insur-
ing surface of the earth. Forests are great
reservoirs of water, keeping under their
shades the SHOWS Of winter to supply the
springs the rYulets and the brooks when
the harvest sun Is pouring dOWn hot beams
upon the fields. The wooded hills are the
friends and the kinsmen OF the valleys. The
brooks welcome the mountain Tiyulet, the
creeks welcome the brooks and the great
rivers take the branches and the creeks along
with them through many bends and reaches,
and at last the glad sea receives them in its
| taWny surf and carries them out Into the blue
water But the sea is an honest sea. ltgets
| a ceaseless contribution OF fresh water from
| the rivers, but it sends back continuously q
/ ceaBeless caravan Of 3Watsr-beAring clouds
| which go to the wooded mountains again and
b4tO pBNf 4DNu Al EAtAhHAb5T OF IN SNOW Gfy
| tails Of rain. But when the fair and tangled
| locks Of the mountains are shOTn away and
| there is left NO network of roots and under
| growth to retain the moisture and no thick
shade TO hinder the melting OF the snow and
Ice, there lie no return tribute to the sea
there is DO GOODNESS Of sir to c0Ddense and
pTscipitste the precious freight Of the sea
born clouds, aud the bald sud desolate noun.
tain sides remain gray and dry aud leafless
and the wealth Of their soil washes away into
the valleys.
No ski Of the tree-plsnter can ever again
restore to the mountain tops and sides thu
YerduEe that has been rshoFn away. ThE
shRdoRy and solemn woods which grew
there cannot grow again In countless scentu
riss Bleak, barren, bald and kideous, tht
naked mountains and bills will DO tombstOnsi
to mark the spots where vegetation once pre-
vailed in All ats glory, DOW mourning owe
drled-up beds Of creeks and riVeIs. For tn
past gi0ries Of the highlands once Eerdure
crowned and life-giYiDg, the arbor days o
the time are only days Of set mourning ant
incuEahle grief.
4 Agriculture feeds and clothes the pro
duceEs Of the other Reeesssries Of life Henci
Its right 70 demand that these other neeessa
ries shall be produced and supplied II ampll
quantities and At fair prices. The farns
leeds the manufacturer and gets his wares 81
return. The farmer furnishes the raw mate
rial and gets 1t back wi th such increased yalul
as skill and labor have produced Bot
are alike interested IN ehasp production ami
cheap tEanspo The nearer the mill
are to the farms the better II IS for both
Americs sends across the Atlantic innumel
able cargoes Of grain, meat and cotton d
supply mills and feed mill operatives Thes
products pass through many hands, All de
, manding commissions and profits The Il
turn wares are loaded With similar exaetioni
! True economy would bring the mills an
mill-hauds Of Europe close TO the farms, fol
ests and miues Of this country To agEtcul
ture, therefore, the honest and healthy imm
grant is as welcome as the deWs are to I'll
meadows or sunbeams to the ripening corr
held. Agriculture wants new Consumers Z
farm products near BY, new manufactures
home7Ealsed materials, new recruits 10 th
great army Of American Industry, new BEN
heiariss pf free government, new factors
the great problem ~ white civilization
Il ~ Is THE RIGHT or THE FARllER
that bis products be conveyed to 4 maFl.s
AZ fair and equitable rates aud that no dit
elimination pc made against him Whist b
sends to market and what be receives ia r
turn should be carried 81 fair, equitable al
uniform rates. The farmer and the railroa
owner are alike protected by the State, AZ